- A report suggests Apple is in talks with suppliers to shift AirPods and Beats production to India.
- Apple plans to diversify its supply chain for manufacturing products in India and wants to increase production as early as next year.
- Apple is now establishing India as a key production base, with exports planned for regions like Europe.
It seems like the latest iPhones aren’t the only thing Apple wants to manufacture in India – the Cupertino giant also wants to make the AirPods and Beats in India. A report from Nikkei Asia suggests Apple is in talks with suppliers to shift AirPods and Beats production to India. As a result, it will gradually taper Apple’s reliance on China to manufacture its products. Apple’s production and supply chain are in jeopardy due to China’s strict zero-COVID policy and political tensions with the US.
To do so, Apple plans to diversify its supply chain for manufacturing products in India and is in talks with suppliers to increase production as early as next year. Apple’s iPhone assembler, Foxconn, is gearing up to make Beats headphones in India, and plans to manufacture AirPods is in the pipeline, Nikkei Asia report, citing sources familiar with the matter.
Further, Luxshare Precision Industry and its affiliates – who already make AirPods in Vietnam and China – are willing to help Apple assemble AirPods in India. Although, Luxshare focuses more on Vietnamese AirPods operations and could gradually start production in India, according to the report.
Foxconn declined to comment, and Apple and Luxshare didn’t immediately respond to the request for comment.
India could be a key production base for Apple
Following a recent disclosure that the most recent iPhone 14 series is already getting assembled in India, moving the production of AirPods and Beats to the country would increase Apple’s production presence in that nation. However, the report does not disclose any specific models that will see production in India.
Apple is now establishing India as a key production base, with exports planned for regions like Europe. In contrast, earlier manufacturing in India focused on feeding the enormous local market.
